ensemble flute, clarinet, marimba, piano, string quartet, and bass
duration 18 minutes
written spring 2004
commissioned by Norfolk Chamber Music Festival
premièred June 26, 2004, Norfolk, CT
published by Andres & Sons Bakery

Keeping Things Whole is a non-programmatic journey through Mark Strand’s poem of the same title. I say “non-programmatic” because the text is used as an emotional point of departure rather than a formal guideline. The piece is an arch-shaped passacaglia, with slower music framing a faster, climactic section. One of my goals was to keep the number of notes to a minimum, making for a very spare, transparent sound. This also provides the (unintentional) side benefit of making Keeping Things Whole relatively easy to play.

In a field
I am the absence
of field.
This is
always the case.
Wherever I am
I am what is missing.

When I walk
I part the air
and always
the air moves in
to fill the spaces
where my body’s been.

We all have reasons
for moving.
I move
to keep things whole.

— Mark Strand

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